Leave Your World Behind
by ninjacatblue
Summary: The drums have begun again. This time they have ensnared a young wizard in their call. It wont end until the name is called.


Quick Authors note.

This is based on the movie(1995), not the tv series, book, or movie that's being made right now. Harry is 7 in this, it doesn't really matter though. Harry becomes pretty powerful. Out of character reactions from many creatures/characters. Basically everything wants to make Harry happy~ Italics are thoughts, and '_' is speech. This is a one shot, I have toyed with the idea of making it a two shot where the effects of the game on the rest of the world is seen more in depth. Please review with your thoughts~ Thanks!

 _A game for those who seek to find, A way to leave your world behind._

Harry tried to ignore the strange sound of drums only he seemed to hear. He ignored them all through school, and the night. He struggled to pretend he couldn't hear them the second day. He picked up a habit of tapping something, anything, to that strange beat. He was tense all the time. The drums filled him with anticipation, for what he didn't know. He made it to Friday. He was kicked out of the house that night, after Uncle Vernon roughed him up some for ruining dinner. It was that night Harry finally answered the call. The sound of the drums had grown louder, deeper, and closer all week, but now, outside under the moonlight, it was more than it had ever been. Harry stumbled blindly into the night. He had to find it. To stop the almost painful beat, or to join those who make it, he didn't know. But he had to find it.

Harry stumbled over a tree root and came back to himself long enough to see he was in the forest now. The call took him over again as he continued deeper into the forest. He finally came to a stop at the base of a huge tree. Dropping to his knees Harry looked around confused. The drums were louder than ever, they shook him to his very core. His entire being demanded he find the source. Frantically Harry began to dig with his hands at the base of the tree. Desperate he ignored the pain as his hands got scraped up, he was used to it anyways. Time had no meaning as Harry dug and dug. After what could have been hours or mere minutes it all stopped. He had found it. Harry pried it out of the ground. It was a box. He cleared away the dirt to reveal a strange cover. It was a landscape painting, and in each corner was a profile of animals and a man. The image was split by an arrow with the word Jumanji on it. Confused, curious, and a little desperate for the drums he didn't even know he would ever miss, Harry opened the strange box. It was a game board. Harry had seen his cousin with many, but had never played one. There was a strange green glass orb in the middle, and then a tiled road that started in the top left corner and snaked a strange and random trail around the board, ending at the top of the green orb. Spotting the rules on the side Harry read them.

'Jumanji

A game for those who seek to find

A way to leave your world behind

You roll the dice to move your token

Doubles get another turn

The first player to reach the end wins'

That's very simple, Harry thought, if all games are this simple then why does Dudley always struggle so much. Looking to the other side Harry found more writing.

'Adventures Beware:

Do not begin unless you intend to finish

The exciting consequences of

the game will vanish only when

A player has reached Jumanji

And called out its name.'

That makes sense, Harry thought, why start a game if you aren't going to finish it? Next Harry checked the boxes at the top left and bottom right corners, in one he found what he assumed was the token that was mentioned. There was only one, and it was a stylized lion carved from a white stone. In the other box he found two dice. Suddenly the token leapt from his hand and stood on the starting square. Almost as if he was in a trance, Harry rolled the dice. A three and a four, seven. His piece seemed to jerk to life as the lion shifted from its position on its back legs and walked forward seven spaces. When it stopped it looked up at Harry before it became motionless again.

Watching in awe and shock Harry spotted movement to the left of the token and saw that the green orb was filling with smoke.

'They grow much faster than bamboo, Take care or they will come after you' Harry read aloud. Suddenly the forest floor seemed to come alive with more than just the garden variety plants that swelled up from beneath him. There were vines hanging from everywhere, and strangely bright flowers of every color. There was a huge yellow one that was hanging directly over him. A vine seemed to lazily come from the strange flower and actually stroked Harry's face almost gently. When it didn't seem to want anything other than to touch him, Harry decided that it must not be dangerous and looked back to the game.

Wow, Harry thought, this game must be magic. Despite his Uncle's insistence, Harry knew that magic was real, how else could all those things he did have happened otherwise. If something like this happens every time I roll the dice I'll really be leaving my world behind, the game will change the world completely.

He reached for the dice again with excitement. And rolled two fives. 'Every month at the quarter moon, there'll be a monsoon in your lagoon.' Harry read aloud. There was a sudden crack of thunder, the only warning to the sheet of rain that suddenly began to pelt the ground in earnest. Harry jumped up in shock and accidentally disturbed one of the flowers. The blue and purple bloom seemed to sneeze as a cloud of orange dust suddenly came out of it. Harry breathed the dust in before he had even noticed it. He began to sway from his spot as his eyes fluttered shut. The vine from the yellow flower caught him and lifted him from the quickly flooding ground.

The rain continued and the plants grew almost faster than they first sprouted. The game, considered a curse to most, had found someone who enjoyed the world it came from. And not just anyone, the child was of magic. Pure and powerful magic, neither tame nor wild, dark nor light. The child's magic was already interacting with the game without the boy knowing. The plants, normally carnivorous, seemed to be almost drunk just from the slight exposure to his magic. In fact the plants had no intention of ever harming the boy as the magic they gained just from touch allowed them to grow and change and spread far faster than they ever would have been able to on their own. Already it's reach was creeping through the nearby towns, and anyways, why eat such a powerful and helpful creature when there was so much meat just out there for the taking. Similarly, the previously small storm that was created by the game grew from the magic that seemed to just seep out of the child. It quickly reached tropical storm strength, and was well on its way of reaching the levels of a category one hurricane by morning.

It was many hours later that Harry began to stir from his deep slumber. He was confused as to why his aunt hadn't woken him up yet, he had never been allowed to sleep in before. And his bed was oddly shaped, it was warm too. It was nice, no sharp springs digging into his side, or his thin yet itchy blanket. In a brief moment of self indulgence Harry snuggled deeper into his bed, deciding to worry about it all later. As he began to drift back off to sleep a cold drop of water splashed onto his face. Harry's eyes snapped open then, There shouldn't be any water in his cupboard, there were no pipes in there, and if anything had been spilled on the stairs he would have been woken to clean it immediately.

Harry looked at what should have been a low wooden ceiling dimly lit by what light came from under the small door, but instead Harry saw trees. The tops of trees, full of bright green foliage and covered with vines that hung down. There were flowers along some of the vines, and rain was lightly dripping down from the tree tops. With a soft gasp Harry remembered the game, the drums, the magic. Harry then sat up and was awed by the vines that had loosely covered his body while he had slept. Further examination showed that he wasn't on the ground anymore, he was on a large bed of vines in the crook of a strange tree Harry had never seen before. Harry cautiously crawled to the edge of the vine bed and looked down.

There was a pool of water that certainly hadn't been there last night. It didn't look too deep, but it was flowing. Harry saw bigger pools both up and down stream flowing in and out of the first pool. He spotted the game board caught between some rocks in the pool right below the tree. Harry knew that even if he hadn't wanted to, he would need to leave the tree that oddly made him feel safe to continue the game. He carefully climbed down the tree and stood on the large roots that came out of the water. Luckily the game was in easy reach from the roots. Harry brought it back up into the tree so he wouldn't lose it in the water.

He opened it back up and was happy to see his token, and even the dice, hadn't moved a millimeter. The lion token then moved itself to look straight at Harry when he lifted the dice. Eleven, the lion stretched before it dashed forward exactly eleven spaces. The smoke filled the orb once more and a riddle came up. 'Need a hand? Well you just wait. We'll help you out we each have eight.' Harry read out. Harry tried to puzzle out the riddles meaning, and was reaching for the dice to just roll again when he heard something new. Looking in the direction the noises were coming from Harry watched as a small hoard of spiders scuttled across vines and branches, racing towards him. They were many different sizes and colors, no two the same.

Even as the countless spiders rushed towards him, Harry didn't tense, and he wasn't scared in the slightest. He had hundreds of spiders in his cupboard, and so long as he was careful to not crush one they were nice enough. As the first of the hoard reached his tree they were confused. It had never mattered what, or how many they hunted, the prey always fled. And yet here was this small thing that neither fled, nor did it try to defend itself. Instead it seemed to almost welcome them in it's calm attitude. Worried that perhaps the creature was poisonous the lead spider cautiously reached out to test it. Harry tensed a bit as the spider almost as big as he was placed one of its legs on him. But he need not have worried as the spider seemed to shudder before it lowered its limb. The spider then moved to the side of the tree and began to make a web. Harry watched the spider completely entranced, never noticing as the other spiders shuddered as well before leisurely scattering out through the growing jungle.

After Harry pulled his attention away from the large spider he looked back at the game board. Curious as to how many more times he would get to roll the dice Harry counted the spaces he had left till he reached the orb. He counted 92 spaces left on the long map like board. With a small smile he gathered the dice to roll again. Above him the large spider watched from its new web, the rain continued strong even if it didn't touch him, and the trees reached ever higher. Harry ignored the dice as he marveled at the white lion that casually walked forward four spaces before it sat and began to groom itself. 88 left Harry thought as he looked to the orb now. 'This will not be an easy mission. Monkeys slow the expedition.' Harry read.

This time it was clear where they came from with how much noise they made. Moving back to the edge of the tree Harry watched as a group of monkeys pulled themselves out of the river and took off into the trees. The last monkey to disappear looked back and met Harry's eye before it followed the others into the growing jungle.

Harry smiled, glad that there were some more animals here now, even with all the plants it had felt oddly empty. Harry picked up the dice and rolled again hoping for more friendly animals to fill his jungle. The lion moved eight spaces before laying down and taking a nap. Well I guess I should let him rest for awhile now, Harry thought before reading his riddle. 'A hunter from the darkest wild. Makes you feel just like a child.' Before Harry could begin to puzzle this one out the answer came crashing through the undergrowth.

"Where are you boyo, you can't hide from me!" a man shouted as he reached the pools of water. Harry returned to the tree edge to get a look at him. He had on the classic explorer outfit you would see in old pictures. He had a gun slung over his shoulder too. "Where are you Harry?" the man called out. Seeing as he was the only one the man could be looking for Harry climbed down the tree.

The man saw him as he descended the tree and waited for him to finish. "Where are your parents boy?" he shouted across the river.

"They're dead sir." Harry called back, just barely loud enough for the hunter to hear.

"I see. And how old are you boy?" the man asked. He carefully navigated the slick rocks to get closer to the small boy.

"7 sir." Harry said quieter since the man was closer.

The hunter squinted his eyes at this response. He greatly valued his keen eye for detail, and this boy didn't look more than five years old. "Why are you so small boy, and where did you get those bruises? And speak up boy!" The hunter demanded.

"I don't get much to eat sir." Harry answered honestly, raising a hand to touch his face. He had completely forgotten about his beating the night prior. "And my Uncle sir, but it was only because I ruined the dinner."

"Your Uncle? Your family!" the hunter shouted, outraged that anyone would harm a child without reason, let alone their own family. He may hunt the cunningest of prey, but even he would never harm a child like this. "And where, exactly, does this Uncle live?" the hunter seethed.

"Number 4 Privet drive, Little Whinging, Surrey." Harry told the man.

"Right. And so the Hunt begins." The hunter said as he returned to the shore and went back into the Forest looking like a man on a mission. Not only did he have prey to catch, he also had pests to exterminate. Normally he would have killed the child anyways. Put him out of his misery. But for some strange reason, as soon as he turned away, the hunter forgot about Harry and thought it was one Vernon Dursley who had summoned him.

Harry watched the man disappear confused and strangely pleased. Harry remanded down by the water for awhile and just watched and listened to the jungle sounds. The steady rainfall, and gently roar of flowing water. Finally when Harry's stomach began to rumble did he move. Harry began to look around hoping to find a way back to the town so he could get some food. But when he made to leave the tree, a large vine suddenly wrapped around him and lifted him back into the tree. Before Harry could voice his protest, or head to the edge of the vine bed again, the vine returned with a strange looking fruit. It was a bright yellow orange and was round, almost spherical. It was small, maybe 5 centimeter in diameter. In fact it kind of looked like an apricot. Cautiously Harry took a bite of the fruit the vine had given him. It was sour, but tasty. Harry happily ate the rest of the fruit, careful once he found the seeds hidden inside. Before he had finished it the vine had made a small pile of the round fruit next to him. Harry smiled as he enjoyed his abundance of food he had never had before.

After eating his fill of the sour fruit, Harry found the game board again and was happy to see that the lion was awake from its nap earlier. Harry rolled the dice again, five. 'His fangs are sharp. He likes your taste. Your party better move, Poste Haste.' He read once the lion had reached its destination. Fangs, Harry thought, that could be so many different things. Looking around Harry made his way to the edge of the tree again to try and spot the new addition to the jungle. Not finding anything Harry turned back to the game a bit disappointed.

Only to come face to face with a huge white lion. The creature gave a snort at Harry before it licked his face. Unable to control himself, Harry giggled as the lion continued to lick the boys hair. Once it stopped trying to groom Harry's meager mane it nudged Harry back to the center of the tree, before it laid down and dragged Harry with it. Harry didn't mind the lion snuggling him, in fact he quite liked it. Harry dozed off curled up with lion, not noticing that his token had returned to it's original position on its rear legs.

As Harry peacefully slept with his lion the world around him continued to grow and change. The storm that was just a light drizzle above the boy, had reached across the pond already, and neared the far edges of the Caspian Sea. It brought rough seas, flash floods, and winds of hundreds of miles per hour. Nothing could escape it as it grew exponentially. The vegetation had already claimed the majority of the island, and had begun to travel out towards the mainland at a frightening pace. For those who had managed to survive the storm of the century, and the freak plant growth, they were suddenly faced with huge spiders and hoards of monkeys. As the chaos slowly spread out from England, the media was calling it Global Warming, The Rapture, and even a government coverup for nuclear fall out. But none would ever know the truth.

After what may have been hours, or even a full day, Harry woke up feeling safe and warm for the first time he could remember. He smiled as he squirmed out from under the lion. Grabbing a fruit from the pile the vines had made Harry sat down in front of the game. As he ate his breakfast Harry looked at his lion token. It was still a beautifully carved white lion, but it had returned to its original position on its rear legs. It also seemed much less life like to Harry. He looked over to the lion that he had snuggled with and grinned. Somehow he just knew that this was the same lion. Harry turned back to the game and picked up the dice again with a big grin. He watched as the dice fell and smoke filled the orb. Six. 'At night they fly, you better run. These winged things are not much fun.' He whispered.

The air that had been filled with the gentle pitter patter of rain, and the gurgling of the large creek below was suddenly filled with the sharp cries and heavy wing beats of bats. The large swarm of bats were headed directly for his tree, when the spider Harry had all but forgotten about suddenly launched itself from its web and began to shove bats into its mouth. For every one it ate, two more were caught on its web. A web that deterred the swarm from ever getting near Harry. During the ruckus the lion had woken up and did not look amused. It glared at the spider as if it had offended him before closing its eyes again.

Harry looked back and forth between the happily munching spider, and the lion that was ignoring them. With a small smirk Harry picked up the dice again. Twelve. 'Don't be fooled, it isn't thunder. Staying put would be a blunder.' He read. And sure enough after just a few seconds he could hear what seemed like distant thunder. The lion perked up and and even walked to the edge of the vine bed. A moment later the thunderous footsteps of many herds of hoofed beasts seemed to shake the very earth. Safe in the tree Harry watched with his lion as the animals stampeded past them. As the last few stragglers were making their way past the lion leapt from the tree and felled one of the beasts. Harry watched, oddly not horrified or disgusted by the lion's actions. An animal has to eat after all, he thought.

Harry turned back to the board again, deciding to not watch as the lion tore into the carcass and devoured its meat. He rolled the dice and watched as the unmoving lion figure slid three spaces. 'When you see it, you will shake. It's big and green and rhymes with lake.' He read from the orb. 'Snake?' Harry guessed.

'Ssmart Sspeaker~' a sibilant voice hissed from behind Harry.

Harry whipped around and found himself face to face with a large green snake. Easily twice his size. 'You can sspeak?' Harry asked. This game just had wonder after wonder hidden within it seemed.

'Of coursse I sspeak. All ssnakess sspeak. It iss Humanss who rarely sspeak the ssnake language.' It explained to the child of magic. Its eyes were droopy as it swayed back and forth almost hypnotically in front of the child.

'Ssnake language?' Harry asked. 'I didn't know ssnakess had a language. How can I sspeak a language I never knew exissted?' He continued to question. Following its swaying with increasingly droopy eyes.

'Magic of coursse. I can practically tasste it coming off of you in wavess.' the snake explained, slowly starting to circle the child.

"Magic? I have magic then.' Harry said more for himself that the snake. Harry watched as it slowly circled him in its coils and nodded at his question. 'Iss that why thiss iss all happening then? The plantss, the rain, you.' he elaborated.

'Yess and no. The game hass a magic of itss own, but your magic iss far sstronger and sso ballanssed and unbiassed. Thiss iss probably why you haven't been attacked yet. If ssomeone elsse had ussed the game, they would have been attacked by the game. Killed even.' the snake explained to the boy now trapped in his coils.

Harry yawned and unconsciously began to relax and rest his weight on the snake's coils. 'Really.' he said, too tired to even phrase it as a question before he was asleep. The snakes coils then tightened around the child, not painfully, but in a protective manner.

'Yess.' the snake continued even though it knew the boy was asleep. 'Ssimply touching you iss intoxssicating. And with every interaction with what the game ssumonss forth, you grow sstronger asss you ssupport it all with your sseemingly limitlesss magic.' it finished before it too fell asleep from the overload of magic it was receiving being in such close proximity with the child. All that came from Jumanji were entirely made of magic after all.

Harry began to stir once more. It may have mere hours, or even days. But the growing jungle looked the same to Harry. He yawned as he tried to get up from the strange dog pile he found himself under. His movements woke the others and quickly the spider scuttled off towards its growing web. Next the snake rose and untangled itself before climbing up a branch to catch the few rays of sun the peaked through the clouds. Harry continued to struggle as the lion stayed firmly planted on him and would not be persuaded to move from such a comfy spot.

With a frustrated huff Harry looked around the vine bed for the pile of fruits. Spotting it way out of his reach Harry began to pout. As if sensing his plight, a vine began to bring him the fruits. Harry smiled and thanked the plant, which seemed to vibrate in joy, and started his first ever breakfast in bed. Sort of. After finishing nearly five of the fruits, Harry felt full and began to plan how to get out from under the lion. Of course this is when the lion chose to roll over and release his pillow.

Harry smiled at the white cat and gently scratched his belly like he knew the neighborhood alley cats liked.

After he felt he had lavished enough attention upon the large cat, Harry spotted the game board right where he had left it. He quickly made his way to it a picked up the dice. Two spaces the token moved, and the smoke rose in the orb. 'Raging waters ebb and flow. Beware piranhas down below.' He read. He then made his way to the edge of the tree and was thrilled to see small fish of all colors now filled the pools of water. Harry watched them swimming about for what seemed like hours before he slipped and began to plummet to the water below.

Harry managed to take a deep breath before he was submerged. Curiously he opened his eyes and saw the colorful fish for himself. The fish began to swarm the strange new presence and began to nibble at him. Harry had to fight down a laugh as he was herded up to the surface by the fish. Their little nibbles tickled, and though a few broke his skin, it was nothing that hurt or stung. Once he broke the surface of the water Harry was gasping for breath as he spasmed and laughed. The water was slightly stained red by the time Harry got himself under control. He swam to the tree roots and began to climb back up. Never noticing that thought the blood in the pool of water was his, and scrapes or bites had already healed shut by the time he made it to the vine bed.

Grinning wildly Harry knelt next to the game again. Eager to see what delight he would meet next. The dice fell from his hands before he realized he had even lifted them. Nine. 'A tiny bite can make you itch, make you sneeze, make you twitch.' As soon as the words had left his mouth, the gently jungle sounds were over run but the drone of wings and the clatter of feet. Within seconds there were insects everywhere. Huge centipedes, large ants, mosquitoes of worrying proportions, and hundreds of others Harry couldn't name. Some stayed by his tree, but most moved on. Except for those the spider caught in its web.

Even this small change seemed to bring the jungle to life even more. Now there was something moving almost everywhere, and the constant rain and river symphony were joined by the drone of the insects. It fit perfectly and made it infinitely more beautiful to Harry. Feeling oddly drained but excited, Harry reached for the dice again. Five. 'Beware of the ground for which you stand. The floor is quicker than the- sand.' Harry read with a yawn. Finding it hard to keep his eyes open, Harry welcomed the steady pressure and heat that seemed to now be hugging him from almost every direction. With another yawn he laid down and turned onto his side before falling into another deep sleep.

As he slept, vines gently held his head above the soft sand that had gathered in the center of the tree. The sheer amount of magic the child gave them was staggering. And it was only increasing. What would have just been a small patch of quicksand for any other player brought the very earth itself to life with the magic of Jumanji. No where was safe as sinkholes opened up randomly, volcanoes began in the most illogical of places, and localized earthquakes topples cities. All the while, Harry dreamt of warm hugs from a mother he never knew.

What was certainly days later Harry began to stir from his deep sleep. He was warm, and there was a pleasant pressure encasing his body. He woke with a content smile. He sat up and felt the sand shift beneath him to accommodate his desire. He stretched his arms wide with a big yawn, before slumping bonelessly. He felt dazed. As if he was still in the sands warm and strong embrace, but so happy and just content. Without a thought he took the fruit the vines offered him and enjoyed the sour taste. He heard purring behind him and suddenly felt a weight behind him. Turning to glance, he saw his lion lying on top of the sand without sinking at all. Harry looked around for the game board and was pleased when he saw it begin to rise out of the sand.

With a murmured thank you that seemed to make the whole earth shudder in delight, Harry placed the game on his lap and leaned against his impossibly white lion. The dice fell and landed snake eyes. Harry couldn't help himself or explain the giggle that escaped his lips as he felt something tickle his chest and make him feel warm and tingly. 'Don't let their color fool you, They're fatal with just one brush.' he whispered. The Jungle seemed to hold its breath as Harry read, and surged to life once more once he finished. Feeling giddy, Harry looked around in search of the new, supposedly deadly addition to his Jungle.

Spotting tiny specs of vibrant color on the leaves and tree stumps, Harry stood and rushed to the closest one. Never noticing how the sand released him and stood firm where he stepped. Tiny frogs! He thought excitedly. Eagerly he reached his hand out and coaxed the tiny rainbow frog with black spots onto his hand. Where it touched, Harry's hand began to change colors to ones that matched the frog. Excitedly he reached for more, and they came. They were everywhere now. Harry couldn't finding a patch of skin that hadn't been dyed brilliantly bright like the frogs. Feeling exceedingly giddy, like what he dreamed a sugar high may feel like, Harry began to spin around and dance to no music with his new semi aquatic friends.

Once he began to tire from his playing, Harry returned to the game board, out of breath, and grinning uncontrollably. Many of the frogs stayed upon him, most hiding in his hair. He picked up the dice, and tossed them again. Six spaces were passed as the smoke filled the orb. Once again, the Jungle held its breath as Harry read. 'Prepare for the trials of men. For the Drums have begun again.' And sure enough, once the words left his mouth, Harry heard the drums that he knew so well once more. As a strange and warm energy surged through him, Harry stood and walked to the edge of his tree to greet the new inhabitants of his forest. He watched as a tribe of humans entered his clearing around the pool of water. They had colorful paint and jewelry adorning their bodies. Some wore masks, and all had weapons. Slightly fearful from his memories of his family, Harry watched them nervously. With a deep breath Harry felt the energy in him serge again as he decided that Jumanji would never hurt him.

When what was clearly an elder spotted him in his tree Harry tried to duck and hide. But he peaked over the edge again at the sounds of the tribes cries. It was a strange language that Harry couldn't understand. After watching them for a bit, it was clear that they wanted him to come down. Confused as to why none of them would enter the water and simply climb the tree Harry began to climb down. There were gasps and cheers as he climbed. As he stopped and turned to the strange people once he was on the roots, the cheers grew with his confusion, and excitement. Now eager to meet these new people, Harry jumped into the pool of water. As he surfaced, he saw shocked and devastated faces, and even a person who had collapsed and was crying. Confused Harry began to swim towards the bank of his pool. When he climbed out the cheers, and and awe filled faces were back and stronger than ever. Adorably Harry tilted his head to the side in confusion. A short person wearing a large wooden mask and holding a tall staff walked towards him.

Harry jerked back when she tried to grab his hand, and stepped back into the pool that surged and stretched up the soft sand bank to reach his other foot as well. Cautiously, but filled with renewed courage, Harry stretched out his hand to the woman. Slowly so Harry could see her every movement, she took his hand and flipped it over as she examined it. She called something back to the rest of the tribe, and the cheers that had settled started again. Growing excited, Harry never noticed the woman removing a sacrificial dagger. Nor did he notice her cutting her own hand with it. He did notice however when she cut his hand and pressed her cut up against his. He jerked back and stumbled backwards into his pool with a pain filled gasp. Above them from Harry's tree a dangerous hiss, a menacing clicking, and a deep rumbling growl echoed down threateningly.

The gasps and started up anew until the woman who had hurt him turned and shouted at the rest of the tribe. 'Quiet! Your senseless chatter may scare the godling further!'

'I can understand you?' Harry questioned. A hush falling over the tribe as they all turned back to him in awe. 'Is this magic? Like with my snake?' He continued. Feeling something within him agree with him and fill him with pride.

'Yes my lord.' The elder who had spotted him answered. 'Our tribe's mage used a blood magic technique to share her knowledge with you.' He explained.

'Lord?' Harry questioned, his confusion obvious on his face.

'Yes. Unless you would prefer a different title, my lord.' the mage said.

'Why would I have any title at all?' Harry asked still confused.

'Your a god!' Someone from the crowd shouted. Suddenly agreements and murmurs started up again.

'How can I be a god?' Harry asked still confused. The crowd silenced by his words. 'I'm just Harry.' He tried to explain.

'Well, Harry,' a new voice began. It was from a man who was tall and large, he had a large spear, and different paint than the others. 'You are a young god. A godling if you will.' he said.

'You have recently been awakened.' The mage continued. 'You will have started to have powers, abilities you can't explain.' she told him.

Harry sat down on top of the water to think for a moment. This caused another round of gasps and the worshipful faces just grew more and more excited. 'But I can explain it. It's magic, and I've always had magic.' Harry reasoned. 'And it's not even me, it's the game. Its Jumanji's magic.' He continued.

Yet another round of gasps passed through the crowd. 'You say it is Jumanji's magic, Harry, but you are Jumanji. You are the jungle god.' the mage tried to explain.

Harry scrunched up his eyes and frowned a little. He disagreed. Jumanji is clearly sitting up in the tree waiting for me. And again, the energy filled him and seemed to give the feeling that it agreed with Harry, but also felt that the mage was right. No, will be right. Confused by this Harry cautiously nodded to the mage before he stood up. 'Well. I don't know about this whole godling thing yet, but for now, I guess you can stay in my Jungle.' Harry told them. The cheers were deafening this time as the tribe began to party right there. The sound of the drums grew ever stronger in the background, joining the Jungle symphony.

'Thank you, Harry. May we seek you out for wisdom and aid in the coming times?' The elder asked. as the tribe began to slowly disappear back into the Jungle.

'I don't know how much help I'd be, but sure. I'd be happy to help.' Harry agreed.

'Thank you.' the elder said as he bowed deeply to the still seated child.

Harry watched amused and baffled as the procession disappeared from his senses. Even as the chanting and singing faded away, the drums remained.

After some time Harry sank into the water and swam back to the base of his tree. His lion immediately began to lick his face, and any exposed skin he could find. Harry giggled lightly at the attention. The frogs still in his hair began to crawl all about his face, making him laugh even harder.

'Your cry of pain sscared uss, child.' a sibilant voice softly chided.

Harry looked over his shoulder and saw his snake watching him. 'Ssorry. Sshe ssuprissed me.' He explained, trying not to giggle.

The snake seemed to huff in exasperation before nudging the child to the game board. "You're almosst done, child.' it hissed, nudging Harry's hand to the dice.

Happy to comply, Harry picked up the dice and let them fall. He watched excitedly as the dice rolled eleven. Only nineteen more spaces, Harry thought sadly. His fun was coming to an end. The game would be over soon. Harry knew that no matter how hard he tried, he would not be able to stop rolling the dice. Not until he reached the end at least. He looked to the smoky orb and read aloud 'An angry sky hurls bolts of light. If you can't take cover, you'd better take flight.' The words had just left his mouth when his world suddenly went white and he fell unconscious.

As Harry recovered from the strain on his magic, and the sudden energy spike from the lightning bolt, the world around him grew bright as what was mostly just a rain storm of apocalyptic portions, became a thunderstorm of apocalyptic proportions. Wild fires were sparked, and the skies lit with the bolts of pure energy. And below it all, Harry's skin lit with the same energy as it danced between his fingers, and through his hair, never staying put for more than a millisecond.

This change was all that was needed for the last few pockets of humanity to crumble. The hidden settlements, protected by arcane and ancient magics fell to the onslaught of the Jungle. The beautifully deadly frogs got into the deepest of fall out shelters. The earth itself came up and swallowed encampments whole. The sound of drums filled the air as castles were stormed by fearsome warriors with gruesome masks. These warriors, although appearing human, would not fall to any weapon known to man, their advancement was unstoppable. In the final hideaways of humanity, the world leaders, or what was left of them, agreed that it was time to end this. Even if it took M.A.D. means to do so. And so with their final moments, they pressed the buttons, and entered the codes to launch the entire developed world's supply of nuclear warheads. Nothing would be able to survive the fall out. But they forgot to factor in the magic. Instead, as the last living humans took their final breaths, the Jungle grew and became even more. The radiation was assimilated, and brought into the circle of existence. Making the Jungle stronger, wilder, and even more beautiful.

The Jungle absolutely bloomed as it further embraced Harry and bettered him. Harry was part of the Jungle, and now would always be. The creatures, the waters, the earth, the energy, and the pure life that he called forth and nurtured claimed their own parts of him. Harry was part of it all now. And always will be. Magic itself claimed the child as her Childe, and blessed him like no others before him.

This was how he woke. Embraced in all ways. His body enveloped in a warm and comfortable mixture of vines, webbing, sand, and water. His soul was embraced and welcomed by the very soul of his Jungle, live a father welcoming home his son. And the energy within him, that he now knew without a doubt was his magic, was being held tightly as if by a mother who hadn't seen their Childe in a long time. Harry sighed and relished the comfort and love he felt. He could no longer remember ever not feeling this way. This is how he was meant to be.

Despite this knowledge, and the feelings of near perfection, Harry could feel something niggling in the back of his mind. Rubbing his eyes, Harry sat up, and the Jumanji game board was suddenly held before him. It was with unwanted dread of losing this all that Harry picked up the dice. Everything stilled as they fell. Twelve. With a heavy heart Harry looked to the orb and read its message. 'The heavens shall fall. Just try to avoid it all.' Harry looked sky ward and was amazed to see the clouds part for the first time in his memory and reveal a star filled night sky. Then there was a shooting star. And another, and another, and another. Until the whole sky was filled with streaks of white against the black. Some were big and flew all the way to the horizon, others didn't last long at all. Harry watched as the show continued. Finally as the last star fell for the night, Harry focused on the moon. It was full. For some reason, feeling as if things had come full circle, Harry reached for the dice. For what he inexplicably knew would be the last time.

He felt tears begin to fall as he watched the first die stop as a three. He switched his line of sight to the other and let out a sob as it came to stop on a four. Seven. Game over. The word he had come to love so much was on the tip of his tongue. As his heart wrenched violently, the world around him mourned as well. The white stone lion slid up onto the orb, and a final message appeared.

'You have reached the end, survived and won. The time has come to contend. Undo what's already done. Or join your sanctuary, your magic made home. Jumanji.' Harry read. His final word sealing his fate no matter his choice. The game board seemed to blur before it became dust on a wind all its own. Harry cried out and tried to stop the board from disappearing. The sand surged forward and tried to contain the dust, the water too. The air blew against it, and Harry's animals tried to catch it. His magic and Magic itself tried to grasp it in any way it could. But nothing could even touch it. The dust swirled up and up in a beautifully painful spiral.

Harry felt like he had lost a vital part of himself with the dust and felt empty and hollow as he watched it rise. As the life began to leave his eyes, the dust slammed down at an impossible speed. Everything that had tried to stop its departure were suddenly drawn into it. Harry gasped. The sudden loneliness, emptiness, and all encompassing cold was debilitating.

Then the dust reached him. And it all came flooding back. Stronger than ever, and infinitely apologetic and regretful that it ever had to leave him in such a way. Harry was crying again, but with joy and relief. He began to giggle uncontrollably as he slumped, and then collapsed on his back.

'Jumanji.' Harry whispered. The word brought a surge of excitement and giddiness within him. 'Jumanji!' He shouted. 'Jumanji, Jumanji, Jumanji!' he began to chant. Until he couldn't manage it in between his bouts of uncontrollable laughter.

The Jungle filled with joy and everything celebrated. Jumanji was finally complete. And was never going to be alone again.

** Cheesus... I just saw that this was somehow replaced with an old draft. I dont knopw how that happened, but gosh darn am I happy to have a back up. I spent a good 5 mins trying to figure out what the hell happened and try to find this copy. So once my heart calms down I'll get to work on the second half of this. **


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